


Snapshots

by Wannabanauthor



Category: Luke Cage (TV)
Genre: F/M, Post canon S2, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-25
Updated: 2018-06-25
Packaged: 2019-05-28 07:21:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,530
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15043661
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wannabanauthor/pseuds/Wannabanauthor
Summary: Misty needs help taking evil Luke down, and she has to make a deal with the devil to do it.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> These are going to be very short chapters since I'm posting them on tumblr randomly as the ideas come to me.

“No,” Shades said and slid the paper back across the table to her.

Misty kept her face passive even though she desired to reach over and smack the living shit out of him.

“What do you mean ‘no‘? You’re facing the death penalty, and we can get that down it life in prison.”

Shades crossed his arms and leaned back, no evidence of teasing on his face. He wasn’t the same man anymore. His eyes looked as empty as his life.

“A lethal injection is much better than being a known snitch in prison. A quick and less painful death than waiting to be shanked. Everyone I love is gone. There’s no use in me waiting it out,” Shades replied in his raspy voice. “I want to go back to my cell.”

Misty looked over to Priscilla who nodded.

“Luke Cage is not the same honorable man you once knew, Hernan,” Misty said. She pulled another file from her messenger bag and tossed it to him, watching his face as he opened it.

The barely contained rage that surfaced added a tick in her favor. All she needed was the final blow.

“We’re prepared to offer you full immunity and an entrance into Witness Protection. You’ll be a free man who can start over. No one will know about your past except for your handler,” Misty said.

“I’m in,” Shades said through gritted teeth. His fingers rested on pictures of a burned down Harlem Paradise.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you're liking the story so far :)

“How much did it hurt to see your favorite boy scout vigilante turn into a crime boss?” Shades asked from across the room. He was unshackled and wearing casual clothes.

Misty wasn’t concerned with him pulling a fast one on her and escaping. The safe house they were in was far from any nearby city, and Shades was still known as the neighborhood snitch.

She was concerned with how long she’d last in this house with him without killing him. The smug expressions and taunts were getting to her. It took all her effort not to smash his nose in.

“I’m guessing it was as painful as losing your arm. How did that happen by the way? I only heard whispers, and I’m curious,” he continued with that damn smirk on his face.

Misty’s prosthetic fingers tightened around the sheet of paper she was holding. She wasn’t going to let him get to her.

“Luke did what he thought was best, but it was the wrong choice. I can’t say the same for your girlfriend. She was crooked from the start along with the rest of her family,” Misty countered. “How much did it hurt when you found out she wanted you dead? Probably as painful as when you found out she died.”

Shades for his part didn’t bat an eyelash at that. His smirk remained, but the humor in his eyes had died.

“Fair enough, Detective,” he replied and sat up in his chair. His eyes dragged up and down her body before settling on her prosthetic arm.

Misty turned away from him, uncomfortable with his gaze. “Let’s get back to work. I assume Luke is channeling Mariah, and we don’t know who burned down Harlem’s Paradise. What would Mariah have done if she lost the club?”

“Get revenge. I’d be on the lookout for a surge of dead bodies appearing in the street. I wouldn’t surprised if it resembled what happened when the wall came down around Harlem.”

Misty groaned. She’d been afraid of that. An angry bulletproof Luke Cage was the last thing Harlem needed. She still remembered when Claire told her about when Luke punched a hole in her wall.

“Where would she go?” Misty asked.

“She’d utilize her connections to find a safe place to stay. What about the nurse he used to date?”

Misty shook her head. “She’s out of the country, and the barbershop is off limits to him.”

“Hmm,” Shades said and stroked his chin. Then he looked up with a wicked grin on his face. “How’s your relationship with him lately? Does he know where you live?”

Misty’s skin went ashen, and sure enough, her phone rang with a call from an unknown number.

“Luke?” she asked when she picked up the phone.

Shades sat back in his chair with a triumphant smile.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's another chapter, folks!

Misty was praying that her rib wasn’t broken. Luke had only meant to push her out of the way, but he had underestimated his strength.

She had slammed into the wall quite hard and crumpled to the floor. She blinked through blurry vision and saw Luke chase after Tilda out of Rand’s building.

The searing pain in her midsection made it hard for her to breathe. With no backup with her in the building, she had to push herself to her feet and stand on wobbly legs.

She had some of her best cops tailing Luke and Tilda, and they could send a report later. She called Priscilla to update her and nearly lost consciousness at the end of the call.

It took half an hour before the pain had become manageable. She made it to her car and checked for any tracking devices. Once she got it started, she headed back to the safehouse, making sure to lose any tails she might have had.

She snuck in through the back door and told the guard at the door not to alert anyone. All she had to do was make it back to her room without anyone seeing her, so she could patch herself up.

Shades was in his room from what she could tell, and she was able to quietly enter hers. She grabbed her medical supplies and headed to the bathroom.

Each step came with an unbelievable amount of pain that made her want to scream. Everything hurt, and she needed to make it stop.

She popped open a bottle of Ibuprofen and swallowed a couple of tablets followed by a few gulps of tap water. Just doing that made her cry out in pain.

Sucking in breath through her teeth, she waited for the pain to pass. She held herself up by grabbing onto the edge of the counter.

“What the hell happened to you?”

Misty closed her eyes. Shades was the last person she needed to deal with right now. “Nothing. I’m fine. Go back to sleep or whatever you were doing.”

“It’s kinda hard to sleep when you’re whimpering like a lost puppy in here,” Shades pointed out. “Coffee with Luke didn’t go so well?”

“I’m not in the mood for your teasing, Hernan.”

“When are you ever?” he asked with a smirk. He eyed the med kit. “Need some help with that?”

“No,” was Misty’s instant reply. She didn’t trust him to be that close to her. The painkillers would kick in soon, and she’d be able to do it herself.

“From the way you’re holding yourself, I’m guessing you have a few bruised ribs. If they’re broken or cracked, you’re in trouble.”

“What do you know about cracked ribs?”

“I got picked on a lot when I was a kid. You’re struggling to breathe which means, the bruise is probably in the middle of your ribcage. You should go to the doctor just to be safe.”

“I said I don’t need your help.”

Shades put his hands up and backed away. “Fine, suffer. If you die from a punctured lung, I’m killing everyone in this house and escaping. I remember the stipulation that the Witness Protection deal dies if you do.”

Misty laughed bitterly, but quickly regretted it.

“Are you going to keep being stubborn or let me help you?” Shades asked.

“Fine,” Misty said and tried to straighten up. “But don’t try anything.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Shades said as he pulled her shirt up. “Nice bruise.” His fingers brushed against her skin. “Does it hurt more when I do this?”

He pressed against the bruise.

“Fuck you!” she screamed and tried to push him away, but he held her still.

“Did it hurt more?” he reiterated.

“No,” Misty answered through ragged breaths.

Shades pulled his hand away. “I’ve got good news and bad news. Good news is that it’s not broken. Bad news is that it lasts almost as long as a broken rib. You’ll be fine.”

Misty winced when she pulled her shirt back down. “Thank you.”

Shades nodded. “No problem. Try to get some sleep, Misty,” he said and left the bathroom.

Misty let out a breath she didn’t know she’d been holding. His hands had been warm against her skin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are heating up aren't they? Remember, this is a slow burn.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a wee bit longer :)

Too often Misty would catch Shades’ eyes lingering on her side. He was too observant for her comfort.

Of course, she tried to overcompensate. She never let on when she was in pain, not even when she moved the wrong way and her ribs screamed out in protest. She could never let him see her vulnerable again.

He was not a person she trusted to know her weaknesses.

When she questioned him about Tilda, his gaze kept straying to her ribcage.

“My ribs are fine. Focus, Hernan. We need to figure out why Tilda burned down Harlem’s Paradise,” she snapped.

Shades smirked like he was happy to have been caught.

Misty didn’t know how Mariah had put up with him for so long.

“I assume she wanted to get back at her mother for not being around,” Shades replied, not taking his eyes off her for one second.

“What do you think caused the tension between them?”

Shades shrugged. “Don’t know. I didn’t even know Tilda existed until-” He cut himself off and cleared his throat. “I don’t know. Maybe they got into it when Tilda was younger.”

Misty held back a grin. Looks like Mariah had kept a few things from her fawn of a lover. Misty could use that later, but for now, she needed relevant answers.

“What do you know about her father?”

Shades shrugged again, but for a second he had pressed his lips together into a thin line. “They met, eloped, Mariah got pregnant and found out the day he died.”

Misty remembered hearing about that, but as she went through the paperwork at the table, something didn’t add up.

“Wait a minute, Tilda has two birth certificates,” Misty mumbled. “How the hell did that happen? One is years before Mariah became a Dillard, and the other one is afterward.” She looked to Shades. “Did you know about this?”

Shades looked over the copy of the birth certificate and frowned. “No, I didn’t. So Mariah’s husband wasn’t Tilda’s father. Who was? It says Unknown.”

“Let me see,” Misty said and flipped through her notebook to find any clues. “You knew her when you were a kid, right? Do you remember any of the men she’d hang around?”  
“No, not really. Her uncle was a little bit heavy-handed with the compliments he paid her, but he died years after Tilda was born, so it couldn’t be him.”

Misty was about to agree with him but then a horrible thought crossed her mind. “How did Mariah react to his compliments?”

“I think Cornell mentioned something about how she would flirt back, but I remember the hatred in her eyes whenever Cornell mentioned his name after Pete died. You don’t think…?” Shades trailed off. His nonchalant mask fell off, and the disgusted expression he bore scared Misty on an instinctual level.

“It explains why she pushed Tilda away. Tilda reminded Mariah of someone she’d rather forget.” Misty tried to remain calm. She’d seen too many women in her family and at her job in that position. It made her want to thrown up.

“If Tilda ever found out, she’d…no, Mariah wouldn’t have told her.”

“Even if she did, why would she be mad at Mariah? It wasn’t Mariah’s fault,” Misty said even though she knew just what mothers and daughters were capable of doing to each other if they were pissed enough.

Shades’ leg was bouncing, and the barely restrained fury on his face had his body tense as a coil.

“I think that’s enough investigating for today,” Misty said and stood.

“How did she die?” Shades asked. His voice was softer. None of that bravado.

“Someone in the prison poisoned her.” Misty left it at that. She wasn’t going to tell Shades what Luke had told her in secret after Mariah had passed.

A tear slipped from Hernan’s eye. “She didn’t deserve that.”

Misty couldn’t reply to that. Her own feelings about Mariah were far from sympathetic, but seeing Shades in a defeated state did stir up something.

“Don’t dwell on it. There was nothing you could have done.” It was the only neutral phrase she could come up with.

“I’m going to find whoever did it and end them…painfully.”

“You do that, and you go back to prison.”

“I don’t care.” The finality in his tone said more than his words. He lifted his head and looked her in the eye.

Misty leveled him with a hard stare. “You’re on your last life line to make something with your life. Don’t throw it all away for avenging a woman that tried to have you killed. Let Shades go, and let Hernan take over.”

A few more tears slipped down his cheeks. “Mariah once said something similar to me.”

Misty couldn’t hold back her disbelief this time. “I doubt she actually cared that much. She used you from the beginning, and then tried to have you killed. Don’t ruin your new start over her. You were nothing but a toy to her.”

She didn’t even see it coming.

His hand closed around her prosthetic arm before she could even blink, and then she was being yanked across the table. She lashed out with left arm and caught him in the solar plexus.

They both tumbled down to the floor, both gasping.

Pain exploded through Misty’s side, but she bit her lip to keep from screaming.

Shades was on her in a flash, pressing his arm to her throat. “She believed I could be a better person. I guess she was wrong.” His knee pressed against her ribs.

A scream tore from her lips as the pain flared up once more.

Shades moved off her immediately. “Shit, I’m sorry.” He tried to pull her shirt up to assess the damage, but she cut him short with a sharp jab to the nose.

He crumpled to the ground next to her.

Misty used her prosthetic arm to grab onto the table and pull herself up. Her watery eyes blurred her vision, but she doubted Shades would come after her again. Blood was pouring from his nose.

A seed of wickedness took root in her heart. “Mariah never loved you. It’s why she moved on with Alex and then tried to have you killed. Killing her murderer isn’t going to change that.”

Shades smiled, bloody nose and all, a sinister smile. “I’m sorry that you’ve never been in love, Misty. If you had, you’d know that love makes you do crazy things.”

Misty didn’t know what chilled her more, his words or the entertained grin gracing his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One step forward, two steps back? ;)

**Author's Note:**

> If you liked it, let me know!


End file.
